Matsuo Bashō [松尾芭蕉] (1644-1694 EC), um dos mais famosos poetas japoneses, não era acupunturista. Mas os parágrafos iniciais de Trilhas Estreitas ao Confim (Oku no Hosomichi [奥の細道]), sua mais famosa obra, descreve em detalhes os preparativos iniciais para a jornada às longínquas províncias do Norte do Japão (Oku [奥]).

The months and days are the travellers of eternity. The years that come and go are also voyagers. Those who float away their lives on ships or who grow old leading horses are forever journeying, and their homes are wherever their travels take them. Many of the men of old died on the road, and I too for years past have been stirred by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind to ceaseless thoughts of roaming.

Last year I spent wandering along the seacoast. In autumn I returned to my cottage on the river and swept away the cobwebs. Gradually the year drew to its close. When spring came and there was mist in the air, I thought of crossing the Barrier of Shirakawa into Oku. I seemed to be possessed by the spirits of wanderlust, and they all but deprived me of my senses. The guardian spirits of the road beckoned, and I could not settle down to work.

I patched my torn trousers and changed the cord on my bamboo hat. To strengthen my legs for the journey I had moxa burned on my shins. By then I could think of nothing but the moon at Matsushima. When I sold my cottage and moved to Sampū’s villa, to stay until I started on my journey, I hung this poem on a post in my hut:

Even a thatched hut
May change with a new owner
Into a doll’s house

「月日は百代の過客にして、行かふ年も又旅人也。舟の上に生涯をうかべ馬の口とらえて老をむかふる物は、日々旅にして、旅を栖とす。古人も多く旅に死せるあり。予もいづれの年よりか、片雲の風にさそはれて、漂泊の思ひやまず、海浜にさすらへ、去年の秋江上の破屋に蜘の古巣をはらひて、やゝ年も暮、春立る霞の空に、白河の関こえんと、そヾろ神の物につきて心をくるはせ、道祖神のまねきにあひて取もの手につかず、もゝ引の破をつヾり、笠の緒付かえて、三里に灸すゆるより、松島の月先心にかゝりて、住る方は人に譲り、杉風が別墅に移るに、

草の戸も住替る代ぞひなの家」

As várias traduções existentes costumam omitir (ou interpretar erradamente) esse detalhe: o trecho traduzido literalmente diz “fiz (ou faço) moxabustão no Sanri”, o original em japonês citando explicitamente o ponto E36 (Sanri [三里]). Certamente um procedimento extremamente necessário para a árdua jornada de 2400 km (600 ri [里] no original) ao longo de 5 meses, sempre a pé e percorrendo muitas vezes caminhos montanhosos e passagens difíceis em busca das paisagens citadas no Kokinshū [古今集] e no Man’yōshū [万葉集] (antologias clássicas de poesia antiga).

Ainda nos dias de hoje a moxabustão é um tratamento bastante popular no Japão, alguns terapeutas famosos como Sawada Ken [澤田健] (1878-1938 EC) e Fukaya Isaburō [深谷伊三郎] (1901-1974 EC) utilizando-a exclusivamente em seus tratamentos.

Bibliografia:

Matsuo, Bashō. The Narrow Road to Oku. Translated by Donald Keene, illustrated by Masayuki Miyata. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1997.
______. Trilhas Estreitas ao Confim. Trad. por Kimi Takenaka e Alberto Marsicano. São Paulo: Iluminuras, 1997.
Narrow Road to the Deep North – Travel Guide at Wikivoyage. 07/09/2019. Acessado em fevereiro de 2020.